I can't get my Lager below 45 degrees.

I have just started my first Lager. A friend bought the kit for us to here together not knowing anything about brewing.
Now its up to me to lager it properly. I don't have cold storage beyond my garage closet which stays at about 50 degrees. I guess my question is, will the beer ruin if I'm lagering at 45 degrees or so?

It will take longer. Lager I'm told roughly translates to storage. Compounds drop out during lagering and colder temperatures accelerate the process.

you really need to be down in the 30s, i'm not sure it could be seen as taking longer at 45.

Ok, well since lagering is a choice, would it be better not to lager this batch and just start lagering when I have the gear to do so?
This is a Light Pilsner and is currently stable and in the Secondary.

Blues4Brews said:

Ok, well since lagering is a choice, would it be better not to lager this batch and just start lagering when I have the gear to do so?
This is a Light Pilsner and is currently stable and in the Secondary.

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the clean lager taste is because of lagering so it's not really a choice if what you are after is a lager. so, is a lager still a lager if it has not been lagered?

Don't let people scare you. Lager it a 45 for a month or two. I guarantee you it will be a good beer. It may not be as crisp as you hoped for but it'll still be good.

DISCLAIMER: I have a fermentation chamber, so I've never tried this myself.

From what I've seen, you can get good results by aging it at the lowest temp you can. There is an episode of BrewTV about this, where they lagered using a bunch of different "wrong" techniques. If I remember correctly, lagering in a guys basement closet at "too high" of a temperature turned out to be pretty good.

So, maybe it won't be as crisp / clean / lager-like as if it had been done properly, but I doubt it will be ruined.

Nice, ok thanks fellas. I'm thinking of just leaving it alone until the temp raises to a level I'm not comfortable with. Doggon Sacramento winters. I appreciate the advice.

aryoung1980 said:

Don't let people scare you. Lager it a 45 for a month or two. I guarantee you it will be a good beer. It may not be as crisp as you hoped for but it'll still be good.

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Agreed! Before I got my lagering chamber, I did a couple of years where the lagering consisted of sitting in kegs in my basement at 50 F (and then warmer in Summer - they were only brewed in winter). Then I would give them two weeks in the kegerator before tapping. The beers turned out great!

Dumb question (and maybe a thread jack): can I lager in a corny? I have room in my keezer for additional kegs, can I just put one in there and tap it after a couple months of conditioning or do I need to do it in a carboy and transfer to a keg after?

forstmeister said:

Dumb question (and maybe a thread jack): can I lager in a corny? I have room in my keezer for additional kegs, can I just put one in there and tap it after a couple months of conditioning or do I need to do it in a carboy and transfer to a keg after?

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yes you can.

You can also lager in bottles if you have fridge space. Be sure to slowly decrease the temp to lagering temperature. You don't want the yeast to crash rig away before carbing the beer. Once you get to approx 35F, lager for another couple of weeks. The only downside to this method is that the yeast will crash in the bottle, so you are sacrificing a bit of clarity.

BleacherBrewing said:

You can also lager in bottles if you have fridge space. Be sure to slowly decrease the temp to lagering temperature. You don't want the yeast to crash rig away before carbing the beer. Once you get to approx 35F, lager for another couple of weeks. The only downside to this method is that the yeast will crash in the bottle, so you are sacrificing a bit of clarity.

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you do not give up clarity when bottling any beer if you simply leave the yeast undisturbed at the bottom of the bottle when pouring into a glass. unless you filter out the yeast you will always have yeast in the bottle.

I'm not sure how much difference you'll notice in a beer lagered at 45 compared to 35.
55..yea probably....65 definitely. I would let it ride for a couple months and call it good.
If your process was good, and you did a diacetyl rest,(some people debate this but I still do one) you'll be fine.

Blues4Brews said:

I have just started my first Lager. A friend bought the kit for us to here together not knowing anything about brewing.
Now its up to me to lager it properly. I don't have cold storage beyond my garage closet which stays at about 50 degrees. I guess my question is, will the beer ruin if I'm lagering at 45 degrees or so?

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Are you talking about fermentation temp or storing temp? During fermentation I brew all of my beers that use lager yeast at 48 degrees. This will create a nice clean beer.

Now if you're talking about lagering (storing), cold temps will allow the yeast to drop out and give you a nice clear beer but even at 45 it will eventually clear in most cases.

The key thing to understand is that all beers brewed with ale or lager yeast can be lagered for clarity but the temperature that they ferment at is different.

Well I used my garage closet for both actually. I new that the fermentation needed to be about 45-50 degrees, and your right it made a very clean and clear beer.

I racked it into the secondary, gave it a diacetyl rest for 36 hours and back into the closet it went. I just wanted to make sure my efforts didn't go in vain at 45-50 degrees.